Vets can get clinic reminders via cellphone

#Middlebury #Veterans

If you’re a patient and you have a new cellphone number, you need to tell the Department of Veterans Affairs. It has a new system to remind patients about upcoming appointments, and thus far, it’s managed to reduce no-shows by more than 100,000 appointments. As of July, 319,000 appointments had been canceled in advance, opening up the time slots for others.

The first reminder text message on your phone will come seven days in advance of the appointment, with a second one two days prior. When the call comes, follow the prompts in the message to confirm you still want the appointment or to cancel it. If you have more than one appointment the same day, you’ll get a message for each one. Be sure to respond to each one individually.

If you’re enrolled in VA health care and previously entered a cell number, you’re automatically enrolled. If you need to change that number, or if you get a cellphone for the first time, let them know when you check in or out.

If you don’t want these messages and want to opt out, reply STOP to any message and you won’t get more of them. Later, to restart your appointment alerts, go to a previous reminder message and type in START.

These messages are only for clinic appointments, not for getting labs, community care or telephone clinics. If you’re getting letters or automated calls, you’ll still get those.

At this point, only the clinic name is included in the message. However, the VA is working on a way to expand the information you receive in the reminder and give more details about your appointment.

If you have questions about how the calling system works, go to the FAQ at www.va.gov/HEALTH/VEText.asp and scroll to the bottom of the page.

(c) 2018 King Features Synd. Inc.